Donations help Acushnet maintain 9/11 memorial

ACUSHNET — Donations from local businesses are helping the Acushnet Fire Department maintain the site of the 9/11 memorial.

Fire Chief Kevin Gallagher told selectmen Dec. 17 that George and Maggie Carvalho of M.A.G. Irrigation Systems, Inc., donated a lawn irrigation system to water the site.

"The largest bill is water," the chief said of maintaining the memorial site. He said the water bill came to $1,400 this year.

Chief Gallagher said the Fire Department held fundraisers to cover the costs of the 9/11 memorial so nothing has to come from town coffers, but he said the cost of watering the lawn, especially getting it started, "proved substantial."

Maintaining the site is also being helped by another substantial donation. Chief Gallagher said Thomas Leonard of American Well & Pump has donated a well and labor at a cost no more than $5,000 to help water the site.

The chief said the department has enough funds to cover the cost.

Chief Gallagher said the well will "make us water independent," not only for the site but also extending to the fire station. For example, he said the well could be used to refill water on the pumper truck.

The 9/11 memorial came about when the Fire Department was offered a 2,700-pound steel beam from the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001.

The Fire Department also obtained a stone from the field in Pennsylvania where several passengers caused a plane to crash rather than let terrorists use it to hit a government building in Washington, D.C.

A third element was added when the town obtained a remnant from the Pentagon.

A professor and design students from UMass Dartmouth designed the memorial.